Your Green Life: Climate Idol Families Share Success Stories

By
KBJR News 1

February 2, 2012Updated Feb 2, 2012 at 8:44 AM CDT

Duluth, MN (Northland's NewsCenter)Only a few months ago one family was commuting 5 hours a week to work, after the Climate Idol challenge they reduced their commute to only 3 hours a week by carpooling.There were four different challenges based around every day life that had to be completed.

"The first one was transportation, the second one was energy, and the next one was food and the last one was lifestyle." said Liz Taylor of Duluth's Sister Cities Coalition, one of the sponsors of the Climate Idol project.

The goal of the project was to show how a family could live more sustainably by using the resources in our area.The families attended workshops and talked with a few local businesses to learn how they can live a greener lifestyle.

"They had a lot of fun doing it, they have been out in the community quite a bit learning new ways of sustainable living." said Taylor.

The Climate Idol project showed that with the proper education and resources available, a more sustainable living is possible.The families admit that although some challenges were tough, other, more simple steps can be made.

"Sometimes it's as simple as riding a bike or leaving the car at home and taking public transportation, it's getting an energy audit of your house." said Eric Schlacks from the City of Duluth.

They also did simple things like eating local foods, reducing waste, and recycling.But this is only the first step for the Climate Idol Project, plans are already in the works for the next group to go green.

"We plan to work with other groups, for next year it's with students." said Taylor.

Hopefully the students can bring some new ideas to the sustainable table.But the success and hard work of these families have paved the way for everyone in the northland who might want to live more sustainably.

"And it really helps people to see what they can do in their everyday lives to live more sustainably." said Schlacks.